Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 or the National League pennant since 1945. Yet the team has some of the most devoted fans in all of sport. Golenbock (The Bronx Zoo) looks at the reasons for the loyalty of Cubs fans, and along the way traces the history of the team through interviews with numerous former players, coaches and executives. In fact, the history of the Cubs is pretty much the history of the National League. The first Chicago baseball clubs were founded in the 1860s, but the team that would become the Cubs was largely the creation of Al Spalding. He not only was a star player, but became the Cubs' owner and in that capacity helped write the constitution that became the foundation of Major-League Baseball. Golenbock examines all the various Cub eras--Spalding/Cap Anson; the Wrigley years, of William and son Phillip--and closes with the current owners of the team, the Tribune Company. Written as an oral history, the text becomes repetitive at times, but Cub fans and baseball historians will find the work hard to put down. Photos . (Mar.)